by Caleb Moore | Nov 28, 2018
At Christmas time, we always give attention to Christ being born. But what I always like to think about is that moment just before Mary became pregnant. Where was Jesus right before he entered into his mother’s womb?
We know that Jesus prior to coming to earth was fully God, sitting at a position of authority along with God the Father. Jesus was ruling and reigning as God, and then suddenly, He is transformed and implanted into Mary’s womb.
The amount of humility Jesus showed in this act is impossible for us to comprehend. Before coming to earth He is fully understood by all the angels. He is worshiped for who He truly is, and His every command is obeyed without hesitation.
When that planned hour finally arrived, Jesus does something totally unimaginable. He steps away from His throne. There is no vocabulary to describe what the trip from His throne into the womb would look like. It likely happened in the blink of an eye, but it is still the farthest journey imaginable.
Jesus leaves behind a realm where He was totally understood and totally obeyed to a place in space and time where He became totally dependent on His family to provide for Him. Nine months later, God in the flesh would need to cry when He was hungry. God himself would need to be changed and held.
As He grew, He would be misunderstood, betrayed, mocked and eventually killed. Jesus entered our world amongst the blood and pain of childbirth, and He left among the blood and pain of crucifixion. That is the way we treated the King of Kings. But the pain of death was not the final bookend to His earthly life. He would be raised again in victory.
The question I always ask myself is why did Jesus have to come so far? Why did he have to traverse such a great distance?
The truth is because that is how far away from God I was. It’s good to recognize and celebrate the birth of Jesus, but let us not forget the tragedy that caused Him to come to save His creation. I pray you are humbled as I am, whenever I think about that moment right before Mary became a mother.
by Caleb Moore | Nov 15, 2018
Just recently my father and I spent the day doing some work at my church. He was willing to help on one condition; he wanted to choose the music we listened to while working.
I didn’t mind because the music my dad prefers is very similar to the music I enjoy. Blaring through the loud speaker was his regular playlist of classic oldies from the 1960s. I know the words to almost all of those songs because it was all I heard growing up.
Compared to music today, the lyrics are incredibly positive. Most of them are about the desire for peace and love and for people to come together as one. There was a voice of optimism in the music of that era, which seems strange since we know it was also a time of great civil unrest.
War was everywhere, and everybody had to pick a side. Politics was also an atmosphere of vicious rhetoric. The country was divided but music was a voice of hope.
I told my dad that I wouldn’t be surprised if we would soon experience the 1960s part two. Once again, we are living in a time of great division and civil unrest. Politics has divided the country, and the levels of tension and anger are extremely high. But anger is not a sustainable emotion. Hatred always leads to destruction either of yourself or those around you.
As divided as everything seems, the world is actually getting better. Statistically speaking, there is less war than we have ever seen. Poverty and famine are at the lowest levels in recorded history. Literacy and the rights of woman and children have increased all over the world. People now live longer and healthier lives than ever before. In spite of all the facts, only 6 percent of Americans think the world is actually getting better. But as Christians, we should have an optimistic outlook on the future.
Jesus said that His Kingdom would be like a little bit of yeast the spread throughout the flour. This yeast changed the flour entirely, and the Kingdom of God is changing things. All authority has been given to God, and He is at work. Christianity continues to grow around the world and is by far the largest freely chosen religion in the world.
In the same way that music was a voice of hope during the Vietnam era, may we be the voice of hope and peace during these contentious times. Instead of joining in with the rantings of an angry world, remember what Jesus said in the gospel of John. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
by Caleb Moore | Oct 30, 2018
Recently, I met with a new believer whom I was beginning to disciple. He was new to church life and to the idea of what it really meant to be a Christian.
His testimony was simple but powerful. He began to believe that there was a God and that this God could help him. He was invited to church by a friend and reluctantly decided to give it a try. In a matter of months, Jesus moved in his heart in a mighty way, and he confessed that Jesus was Lord.
As we sat down to talk I realized just how little he knew about Jesus. He told me, “All I know is that Jesus was in a basket in some river as a baby.” Some of you might giggle at such an idea. We know that the person he is describing is Moses.
However, he is an intelligent person who simply had heard so little about Jesus. He assumed the baby in a basket story was about Jesus. He also asked me how long did it take for Jesus to write the Bible. I love these types of questions because it’s amazing to see people discover Jesus for the first time.
There are still people really close to you who don’t know Jesus. I don’t mean that in the salvation sense. I mean it in the most basic way possible. They simply do no know who Jesus is, what He taught or why this matters.
Many of us have been in the church or around Christians for so long we assume everyone has the basics of our beliefs stored somewhere in their minds. This assumption has impacted our evangelism in a negative way. We use Christian words and tell stories as though people are familiar with the names and settings.
When I preach, I do my best to make sure everyone knows where the book of the Bible we are studying is located. I pause for a long time and wait until everyone has found it. Some get to the book and chapter in a matter of seconds, but for others it can take a minute or more.
I suggest we always, always wait for those who are not familiar with the Bible to find it, so they can read along with the rest of us. Far too often, we move quickly, and in doing so, we leave behind those who need to be taught the most.
Being around people who have little or no understanding of our faith is the only way to be made aware of how much we miscommunicate to the lost people around us. Asking someone if they have been washed by the blood of the Lamb is only helpful if they know lots of Biblical teachings. Can you imagine asking that of someone who has no idea what you are talking about? They might think you are a voodoo doctor.
One of the reasons for this gap in communication is because so few Christians engage in conversations with those who are not like them. We have created our own cultural safe space with its own language, music and stores. As we sit comfortably in our pews, there is a world outside that is oblivious to the truth of the Gospel.
The fix is easy though. Talk to people about Jesus. Talk to the person at the gas station, the restaurant and your work. The more you talk about Jesus the more opportunities you have to answer questions about what a Christian actually is.
by Caleb Moore | Oct 18, 2018
I am the son of a magician. Not just any magician, he was once the Great Waldini, but that was a long time ago. Now he is just Walker Moore (who is still great in my opinion).
Before I was born, my dad used magic as a way to entertain, but he also used it as an evangelistic tool. I used to read through his collection of old magic magazines and dream of being the next Houdini.
I’m currently going through a stage where I have fallen back in love with magic. I’ve been practicing old tricks and learning some new ones. My two young boys are a fantastic audience, even if they can’t remember the card they picked by the time the trick is over.
The reason people love a good magic show is because we are shocked when something is presented to us that we can’t explain. I think this says something about all of us. We assume that we know and understand so much of the world that something truly marvelous has to happen to wake us up and remind us that there is still some mystery in the world.
There is still so much to life that is a mystery. We should be surprised when we actually understand something, not the other way around. This is why young children have a constant sense of awe about them – the world is one great big mystery.
I think we lose that awe, not because we suddenly have all the answers, but because we just stop looking for the answers. As Christians, we don’t believe in magic in the traditional sense, but we do believe in the supernatural.
We can often be afraid of talking about supernatural things; some aspects of the supernatural have been shoplifted from sound biblical theology and turned into a spectacle. But that does not mean that supernatural things don’t exist.
As Christians we shouldn’t have to wait for a magic trick to awaken our sense of wonder. We are called to have childlike faith, one that expects wondrous things to happen.
Far too often, when a problem arises, my first instinct is to think about how I can fix it. I look first to the natural world, and usually that is enough. If your bank account is low, we know we just have to work harder. If there is conflict, we know we just have to talk it out; we go to the natural first because it often works.
But Christians are called to take everything to God in prayer first. God wants to work in our lives. He wants to surprise us and show us that life can still be full of wonder.
Some people call it a miracle; some people call it magic, but it is really just God doing what He said He would do. He listens to prayers and answers some of them.
The best stories I have are the ones where I didn’t have a natural way to fix the situation, and I looked to God. When He shows up, it’s better than any magic trick, because it’s real.
Don’t get so used to the routine of your life that you forget to live in awe of the wonder and “magic” of a loving God.
by Caleb Moore | Oct 2, 2018
I was among the millions of people last week who listened to every detail of the blistering testimony of Christine Ford and the rebuttal by Judge Kavanaugh. I did not have a side that I was pulling for; I just wanted to hear the facts.
After a full day of questions and answers, I still don’t know the truth, and let’s be honest, neither do you. What we have is a difficult case that is made even more difficult when you throw in a bunch of politicians.
I don’t want to add to the noise that follows such events with my own personal opinion. But I do think this is a good chance to talk about justice. Is there such a thing as true justice in this world?
The answer is an obvious no. Sometimes innocent people go to jail; sometimes those who commit horrendous crimes escape unpunished.
This is one of the reasons that I love my Christian faith. We believe that no sin will go unpunished. We believe that every sin will be brought to light and dealt with by God. So, in one sense, we believe in ultimate justice, but we also believe in heavenly injustice as well.
Let me explain what I mean by that because it can sound scandalous at first. Justice is when the punishment for a crime is equal to the level of crime committed.
As a Christian, I believe that Jesus paid for my sins, my crimes against God, on the cross. I have a hard time seeing this as just. I’m the one who committed the crime, so it follows that I should be the one to pay the penalty.
It is not fair for someone else to have to pay for my mistake. What Jesus did on the cross did not negate God being a just judge, but it did magnify His mercy.
Mercy is when you give to someone something they do not deserve. I should have to stand trial for my crimes. I have wronged God and others many times over.
I stand with Paul when he says he is the worst of sinners. Because of that, I thank God that there was a moment of mercy instead of justice. He took my sins upon Himself, and He gave me His innocence.
Instead of letting these events divide us even more, I just gave you an example of how to talk about it in a way that brings God glory. The message of grace, love and mercy is what the world needs right now.
There is ultimate justice for sinners. If you have sinned, you will have to answer for that sin when you stand face-to-face with God. If you are in Christ, your punishment has already been paid, and your sins are washed away.
If you are not in Christ then the burden you will have to bear is unthinkable, but just.